Here's an odd situation for 2017 iMac with USB-C port.
I can connect an external SSD without problems.
When I attach an iPhone 16 Pro using the same cable it does NOT connect.
I can attach the same iPhone with the same cable to a MacBook Pro M1 and it immediately connects.
I've tried a Thunderbolt data cable without success.
Has the USB-C port changed since the 2017 iMac?
iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 13.7
There have been some changes to Mac USB-C ports … the ones on Apple Silicon Macs support USB4, and some of them support Thunderbolt 4. That shouldn't matter as far as connecting an iPhone to a Mac, where the connection would involve USB 2 or USB 3.
The Technical Specifications for the iPhone 16 Pro say
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Syncing to a Mac or PC requires:
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If your 2017 iMac was still running its original OS (Sierra), it would not meet these requirements. But your tag line says that you are running macOS 13.7 (Ventura), so you should be OK there.
There are "charging only" cables that don't carry data at all … and if you used one of them, that would explain the symptoms. But you say that you used the same cable successfully with a M1 MacBook Air.
You may want to check Finder > Settings… on the iMac. I'm guessing that in the Sidebar tab, you want to have a check mark next to "CDs, DVDs, and iOS Devices" (under the Locations heading).
If this does not resolve the issue, you may want to take advantage of the 90 days of free telephone support which came with your new iPhone 16 Pro.
There have been some changes to Mac USB-C ports … the ones on Apple Silicon Macs support USB4, and some of them support Thunderbolt 4. That shouldn't matter as far as connecting an iPhone to a Mac, where the connection would involve USB 2 or USB 3.
The Technical Specifications for the iPhone 16 Pro say
----------
Syncing to a Mac or PC requires:
----------
If your 2017 iMac was still running its original OS (Sierra), it would not meet these requirements. But your tag line says that you are running macOS 13.7 (Ventura), so you should be OK there.
There are "charging only" cables that don't carry data at all … and if you used one of them, that would explain the symptoms. But you say that you used the same cable successfully with a M1 MacBook Air.
You may want to check Finder > Settings… on the iMac. I'm guessing that in the Sidebar tab, you want to have a check mark next to "CDs, DVDs, and iOS Devices" (under the Locations heading).
If this does not resolve the issue, you may want to take advantage of the 90 days of free telephone support which came with your new iPhone 16 Pro.
Something else to note:
Mac notebooks with Apple Silicon chips often require you to approve new USB and Thunderbolt accessories. Mac desktops don't. Don't take the lack of a permissions dialog (on the iMac) as evidence that no connection has been made. Go by whether the iPhone shows up in Finder windows sidebars (once you have Finder Settings configured so that it should show up there).
More testing implies it's a USB-C port issue. I connected the iPhone with a USB-A to USB-C cable and it immediately showed up in the Finder and started charging.
There must be some issue(s) with the USB-C ports on an Intel iMac.
If it is a problem with USB-C ports on Intel Macs, in general, I would expect there to be a lot of other reports of the problem on this forum, and other forums. That could be the case, but I haven't seen evidence of it yet.
Another possibility is that there is a hardware problem with the ports on your particular iMac.
Thanks, but Finder settings are correct. I may have to call Apple telephone support.
Plugging in the iPhone does NOT charge the iPhone so it's clearly no making a connection.
iMac USB-C connection problem
